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Fisheries and Hydropower as Main Parts of the
Water – Energy – Food Nexus in the Mekong Basin
MRC Workshop on “Fish and Hydropower: Research on Fish Passage through Large Dams and
Review of Existing Knowledge on the Effectiveness and Economics of Fish-Friendly Turbines and its Applicability to Mekong Mainstream Dams in the Mekong Region”
OSV, 16-17 June 2015
So Nam MRC Fisheries Programme Coordinator
OUTLINE
5. Water-Energy-Food Nexus Approach and Perspective in the
Mekong River Basin
1. Fish species diversity in the Mekong River Basin
2. Importance of the Diverse Capture Fisheries in the Mekong River Basin
3. Hydropower Development in the Mekong River Basin
4. An Example: Finding Balance between Energy and Fisheries in
Sustainable Hydropower Development in the Mekong basin
Fish species diversity in the Mekong River Basin
The group of Mekong basin countries stand out as the region of the world with the highest freshwater fish species diversity per square kilometer. On other continents, only French Guiana and Suriname in South America feature a higher or similar fish species diversity per unit area of land.
Amazon1217
Mekong781
Zaïre624 Orinoco
549Paraná
438 Rio Negro330
ChaoPhraya
318 Niger261
Paraguay257
Uruguay228
Amazon1217
Amazon1217
Mekong781
Mekong781
Zaïre624
Zaïre624 Orinoco
549Orinoco
549Paraná
438Paraná
438 Rio Negro330
Rio Negro330
ChaoPhraya
318
ChaoPhraya
318 Niger261
Niger261
Paraguay257
Paraguay257
Uruguay228
Uruguay228
Fish species richness of the top ten rivers in the world
850 Mekong
- The Mekong River has the highest fish biodiversity in the world after the Amazon River.
- 850 freshwater fish species recorded from the Mekong River Basin
- With a total estimate of about 1,100 fish species if the possible coastal or marine visitors are included.
- A significant proportion of endemic fish species, approx. 20%
151 species (12% endemics)
HIGH MOUNTAINS
140 species (18% endemics)
LOW MOUNTAINS
PLATEAU ISLANDS, WETLANDS
328 species (11% endemics)
FLOODPLAINS
484 species (6% endemics)
DELTA
267 species (16% endemics)
191 species
(14% endemics)
Fish species diversity in the 6 main hydro-ecological zones
of the Mekong River
The Mekong River mainstream is characterized by a gradient of increasing species richness from the headwaters down to the sea
The fish species diversity of the Tonle Sap lake in Cambodia is ranked third (i.e. 296 species) in the world after the East-African lakes Malawi and Tanganyika. It the largest lake in the SE Asia and the most productive lake in the world.
Malawi438
Tanganyika316
Victoria225 Tonle Sap
197
Biwa69
Baikal64
Taal63
Turkana60
Rukwa59
172
Chad/Chari
Malawi438
Malawi438
Tanganyika316
Tanganyika316
Victoria225
Victoria225 Tonle Sap
197Tonle Sap
197
Biwa69
Biwa69
Baikal64
Baikal64
Taal63
Taal63
Turkana60
Turkana60
Rukwa59
Rukwa59
172
Chad/Chari
172
Chad/Chari
Fish species richness of the top ten lakes in the world
Tonle Sap 296 Victoria
226
Importance of the Diverse Capture Fisheries in the Mekong Basin
Balancing fish consumption and fish yield
from 3 key habitats
The BASIN-WIDE fish yield is the same as the basin-wide fish consumption:
2.3 million tones/Year
Comparison with other regions
LMB fisheries production =
2% of World fisheries production 43% of Africa fisheries production 19% of America fisheries production 4% of Asia fisheries production 12% of SE Asia fisheries production 24% of Europe fisheries production
• However, LMB fish production represents about 20% of the world inland capture fish production.
• The LMB capture fisheries production is higher than anywhere else in the world.
Social Access
…….via political, communal, familial “non-market” mechanisms
Subsistence fisheries Cambodia and Lao PDR: 70% of rural households depend
on fisheries Mostly small-scale nature only Cambodia partly large scale
Women and children play important role (ensuring food supply to frequently food insecure groups) Community fisheries Large participation throughout value chains
Economic Access
…….via market mechanisms, purchasing power
A least 40 Million people in LMB (approx. 70%) involved in fisheries (at least part-time or seasonally)
High employment factor throughout value chains
High income generating factor throughout value chains
Affordable, especially for poor people
Economic Value of the LMB fisheries • Total first-sale value is up to US$7.0 billion per year. • But most of the catches are consumed directly by households, as part of rural
subsistence economy, which does not appear in national accounts. • Inland fisheries make significant contributions to the monetized economies of
all four riparian countries. • Fisheries accounts for nearly 12% of
Cambodia’s GDP, and fisheries value in Lao PDR is equivalent to 7% of the country’s GDP.
• Although proportionally less important, the Mekong fishery sectors in Thailand and Viet Nam add well over US$750 million to the economies of each country annually.
0102030405060kg/person/year
Consumption inland
capture fish • Per capita consumption does
not vary much, the regional average is about 46 kg/person/year with national figures varying by about 20%
• The main determinant of consumption is population size, we can see here the close match between population and consumption.
• > 60 million live in the LM watershed (100 million by 2025)
Fish Food Security Value
Consumption
inland capture
fish
• In Average > 50% of the total animal protein intake of the people in the Lower Mekong Basin come from fish
> > > the world intake of 17%
• Cambodia rate: > 75%
• This LMB figure is similar to the SE Asian rate of 51 kg per person per year and significantly higher than the Asia rate of 21 kg per capita and the world rate of about 19 kg capita.
• Interestingly, the Tonle Sap Lake rate is 60-80 kg per capita.
• Fish is more than just a source of animal protein. • Fish contains several essential amino acids, especially lysine and
methionine (protective effects against diseases such pancreatic cancer or rectal disease)
• The lipid composition of fish, with the presence of long-chain, poly-unsaturated fatty acids (LC-PUFAs), is unique, with beneficial effects for child development and adult health by providing protective effects against diseases such as stroke, high blood pressures or heart disease.
• Fish is also an important source of essential micronutrients – vitamins D, A and B, and minerals (calcium, phosphorus, iodine, zinc, iron and selenium), which makes it particularly attractive in the current fight against malnutrition in low income and food deficient countries. For instance, the high level of iodine found in fish can help prevent iodine deficiency which is known to cause cretinism (stunted growth or mental retardation)
Fish Nutrition Value
Environmental Value
>61
<30
41-50 31-40
51-60
Consumption of freshwater fish and other aquatic animals in the Lower Mekong River Basin (kg/capita/year) • Provinces
surrounding the Tonle Sap have the highest fish consumption rate.
From Mekong to Global Figures
Fish Pig
Chicken
Cattle
Sheep
• The world production (t) of cattle, chicken, pig, sheep and fish over the period of 40 years (1960-2010)
• The graph show Fish is the largest source of animal protein, overshadowing most other sources.
• In 2010, Fish represented 2 times larger than chicken and 3 times larger than cattle.
Bené et al. 2015: Feeding 9 billion by 2050 – Putting fish back on the menu
Hydropower Development in the Mekong Basin
• The Mekong countries’ policy priorities for growth and infrastructure development are clear, as are their priorities for protection of fisheries and aquatic environments and sustainable rural livelihoods. Balancing these priorities involves conscious trade-offs.
• Hydropower dams bring potential opportunities for economic development, mainly with improved electricity supply, foreign exchange earnings to support governments’ development goals and improved navigation.
• However, the projects would inevitably be accompanied by major risks to existing uses and benefits of water and related resources of the Mekong basin.
• The question the Mekong countries are now assessing is whether the impacts can be adequately mitigated.
• Nearly 150 existing and planned hydropower projects create fish migration barriers between important habitats through the LMB, posing a direct challenge to regional fish productivity, hydrologic regime and water quality.
• It is argued that a transparent process of IWRM, which balances the demands for water, energy and food to reduce poverty regionally, can achieve direct and indirect synergies and ensure availability and access to inexpensive fisheries products for the future.
How can we find balance between energy and fisheries in sustainable hydropower development in
the Mekong basin?
Our question and our role and responsibility to answer the question below!
• A recent paper by Dr. Jeff Opperman and 31 Co-authors or scientists published in May 2015: The Power of Rivers may help us to work together to answer the above question.
• This paper addresses the global expansion of hydropower dams and the need to find development scenarios that provide energy, but also work for communities and nature, including fisheries. Designed as a resource for hydropower companies, governments, financiers and other organizations, they used a global database of dams currently planned or under construction to demonstrate how Hydropower by Design and System-Scale Approaches can produce more-balanced outcomes for rivers, energy and fisheries or fish food.
300,000 km of rivers fragmented or river flow patterns changed
Better outcomes for hydropower development are possible—outcomes that are more balanced across social, environmental and economic values.
More-balanced outcomes can occur at the scale of individual dams (design and operation), as well as in the planning and siting of new dams. They call the integration of these scales to pursue balanced outcomes “Hydropower by Design,” which strives to: • Avoid the most damaging sites and direct development toward sites that will
have lower impacts; • Minimize impacts and restore key processes through better design and
operation of individual dams; and • Offset those impacts that cannot be avoided, minimized, or restored by
investing in compensation such as protection and management of nearby rivers that provide similar values.
This Approach is used to identify spatial arrangements of dams that can maximize the length of connected river channels for a given level of development. Here they use connected channels as a proxy for rivers that can still support natural functions.
Hydropower by Design Approach
300,000 km of rivers fragmented or river flow patterns changed
Length of river channel with potential for improved outcomes from Hydropower by Design
and other environmental best practices
Nexus Approach
identify cross-sector impacts (externalities),
explore feasible trade-offs, help policy makers achieve
greater policy coherence, move development pathways
which are resource efficient, equitable and sustainable.
Nexus Perspective in LMB Issue
– Segmented sector planning and decision making is likely to lead to unsustainable development pathways: Limited communication and joint planning between
Hydropower and Fisheries sectors Hydropower agenda more prominently represented than
fisheries sector – fishers are not organized to represent their stakes
– Risk of inefficiencies in the development of resources and their allocation between uses and users Efficiency assessments of fisheries management and
hydropower development are not undertaken and discussed together
Nexus Perspective in LMB Need to
– promote greater co-ordination between inter-linked resource producing and consuming sectors: Fisheries authorities, Energy authorities and Hydropower
Developers need to talk to each other They need to discuss their management and
development plans with each other and engage in transparent and honest dialogue
– clearly recognize the consequences of decisions made in one sector for the other sectors: Ensure the application of scientific tools and standards in
the assessment of environmental and social impacts of hydropower development on fish and fisheries Further refine and strictly apply MRC PDG
Thank You!
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